Drug Policing Advocate Tools
Drug use is closely connected to what we refer to as Drug Policing, a term that describes how the US has handled drug use and sales for the past fifty years. This approach relies on punishment and law enforcement to prohibit drugs by banning their use, sale, possession, production, and cultivation. The goal has been to reduce or eliminate both the supply of and demand for drugs.
Research shows that this approach has not been effective at reducing drug use and instead has contributed to rising overdose deaths and other negative outcomes for both public safety and health.
Use this page to access information and advocacy tools that advance public health and harm reduction approaches in place of punitive measures.
- Multiple research reports from the Minnesota Justice Research Center on topics like pre-trial detention, community supervision, and prisons
- Depenalization, diversion and decriminalization: A realist review and program theory of alternatives to criminalization for simple drug possession
- MN Sentencing Zones: Drug Paraphernalia Possession Charges
- Some Minnesota counties spent opioid settlement money on police dogs (Nov 2025)
- Criminalization Causes the Stigma: Perspectives From People Who Use Drugs
- Interactive Map: Drug Criminalization Impacts
- Minnesota Uniform Crime Report
- Law Enforcement Action Partnership